I've Been Bugged!

Well I have to say the last 24 hours have been a real BUMMER! Yesterday afternoon I started feeling queasy and by this time last night it had developed into a full blown stomach virus! It’s been crappy (no pun intended!)


But I am happy to say that other than feeling a little washed out, I am feeling pretty much back to normal tonight.  I really hated to have to miss work because I was on vacation last week and I didn’t need to miss any days this week. One good thing was that I had done so much up ahead of time before I left that I am not as bad off as I could be. I will probably have to go for a few hours sometime before the week ends. But, I really need my Thursday and Friday at home too!

As I have sat around most of today I kept thinking to myself that I should get up and do something. It is so hard for me to sit still for very long. I like to be up getting something accomplished. Maybe a little “bug” is just what we need some times to make us slow down and also make us appreciate being well!

I hope you have escaped the dreaded “bug” and will have a blessed and enjoyable “rest” of the week enjoying your family, doing something to stay fit, growing in your faith and having lots of fun!

p.s. one good thing about being stuck inside is that I have beautiful scenery to look at out my den door:

A Sucessful Trip

Well my R&R trip to the beach is now history and I have to say......it was a huge success!  The R&R was much needed and much enjoyed.  Hope you enjoy some of my pictures:

I wish all five of us sisters could have gone, but it just didn't work out.  I missed the other two, but the three of us spent our days sunning (with 30 sunscreen, thus no tan for me!), shopping and swimming.  Our nights were all about finding a great place to eat and we managed to do just that!

I have always wanted to do Yoga on the beach, but this picture is just a pose (living out my dream) because the sand was way too soft and the beach to bumpy for yoga. 

 

So, my trip was wonder-ful but it is also great to be back and be with my family again.  I missed them all and wished they could have been with us too.  Today, I had a really good first day back home as Jerry and I got to accompany Aaron on his field trip to Salato Wildlife Center in Frankfort and tonight I get to see some of my favorite little ones play their sports.

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...............

Life IS Good!

Remembering Mama on Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day, I want to pay tribute to my "Mama."

In the 2009 publication "The Women of Mercer County" I wrote these words about my precious, determined mother (who was raised in a home for girls:)

"She could have made herself miserable in her "orphan" home or wallowed in self pity when her first husband killed himself, but she chose to make the best of her situation many times.  She determined to love and be loyal to the people she lived with.  She determined to get an education and pursue a career.  She determined to pick herself up after any set back and become a stronger person.  She made up her mind to treat her customers with kindness and respect and therefore grew a sucessful business.  She determined that her girls would have a life that she didn't; one of a warm, safe, loving home where they didn't have to work hard to earn love and where they had clothes that she hand made in the wee hours of many mornings.  She was a wonderful cook and always saw to it that there were three great meals a day for her family.  She allowed us to romp and play and just be kids having lots of fun.  And our Christmases were magical each year because she saw to it that we always got lots of wonderful things even though we lived on meager means.  (Mama was determined to make it that way since her Christmases were far from magical.)  She also determined that her girls would grow up with respect for others and so she didn't spare the rod when any of us got out of hand. 

What makes a great woman?  For her it meant not giving up on life when the chips were down and putting others before herself, sacrificing much for her family.  She didn't leave behind any list of great civic accomplishments or was never famous.  What she did leave was a legacy of determination and what can be achieved when it is motivated by love.  As for me and my sisters, I believe we are better, more determined women because of the role model she was for all of us!"

I thank God over and over for my Mama who loved and sacrificed so much and I still miss her, even though she has been gone for 22 years.

Rest on the Way!

(Matt. 11: 28-29)
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls


Yeah, that would be me He is calling out to. I am tired……worn out! I don’t know exactly why, but unlike myself, I am admitting that I am tired and worn out. Feeling old too.

For most of my “after middle age” years I have felt way younger than my chronological age. I have had energy and stamina that I felt was as good as any thirty year old. But since the first of the year, for some strange reason, my chronological age has caught up with my physical/psychological age. This is really playing havoc on my mental state as well. I am having a hard time accepting that I can’t do everything I have always been able to do. Or, I can do it but it wears me out and I don’t rebound as fast as I once did.

I have a good friend who thinks there is an obvious reason, other than age, for my state of mind and body. She says, and I quote, “you just can’t be all things to all people” anymore without it catching up with you. I have given much thought to what she said and I have come to agree with her. I am ready to admit that being a “control freak” has finally caught up with me and I have to make some adjustments.

I think it is time that I stop trying to take responsibility for everything and everyone around me and focus on my own health and well-being. I have to stop feeling guilty about not doing everything for everyone.   Just keep repeating this Frances:  my husband, my children, my grandchildren, my job, my classes can all function very well without me! This is not to say I can ever stop caring for those I love. It is just that I can’t keep trying to make good things happen for everyone!  Their destiny is not in my control!

This week I am taking a big step in that direction. I am going on a trip! Two of my sisters and I are leaving Thursday for a beach trip and will be gone about a week. I am promising myself to leave all my cares behind and try to completely RELAX! I also will, if history repeats itself, laugh a lot. My sisters and I always laugh a lot when we are together. So, I am asking you to pray that I can actually follow through with my resolutions and have a safe, fun and relaxing trip.

I pray you will have a safe and fun week too!!

By the way:  Go to http://www.cyndispivey.com/ for a chance to enter to win a beautiful and meaningful necklace!

Needed: A Food Revolution

If any of you watched the series on television called “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” I wonder if you were as appalled as I was at what our young children and teens are eating on a regular basis? Unfortunately, I only got to see a couple of the segments but that was enough to make me realize (again) that if our eating habits don’t change soon, we will have a nation of sick young adults in the next quarter century!

I have been worried about this problem for quite some time now but have sort of shrugged it off thinking there is nothing I can do about it. After watching this show I feel it is imperative that we all start doing something about it!

Somehow, some way we have got to understand the value of good nutrition.  Actually, I think we do understand it. We just live such fast paced lives that it is much easier to eat unhealthy than healthy. I totally understand. Sometimes, when I leave work after a hard day I find myself thinking about just driving through some fast food restaurant and getting something quick. And, if I find myself in those scenarios I understand how it would be easy for tired, busy parents to take that route.

As much as I like an occasional meal at one of these “joints”, I sometimes wish that they had never been started. When I grew up and for a big part of the years I raised my kids there weren’t too many options so we ate at home much more often. But, it wouldn’t be realistic to think about living without them today. We would all miss them!

One of the things that appalled me the most on Jamie’s show was the emphasis on school meals. I have long been concerned that the “government regulated” meals are loaded with fat and empty calories and this show just backed up my concerns. Chicken nuggets and french fries are accepted because they are meat and vegetable!  When I was in school, lunches were cooked, not popped in the oven or deep fryer. And, we were expected to eat them! I think it is time to put pressure on our schools for healthier food for our precious children!

I was so impressed that First Baptist Church of Kenova, W.V. took the lead in the “Food Revolution.” I have been teaching exercise at our church for 25 years or so and have always used the scriptures (the body as temple of the Holy Spirit and honoring God with our bodies) as motivation to take good care of ourselves. Our church was one of the firsts to offer exercise classes which eventually sparked the idea of having a family life center to encourage activity. We now have a beautiful Recreation and Outreach Center where people not only participate in organized exercise classes but children and adults alike can participate in lots of activities. I’m proud that our church is on the right track in encouraging fitness and now I think it is time to include nutrition classes and I hope that we can get started before it is too late!

In the meantime, I think planning ahead is the key in our busy society. When we know ahead of time what our meal is going to be, the temptation to “drive through” will not overtake us. Good healthy meals don’t have to be time consuming, but they do have to be planned in advance. I’m praying for a “Food Revolution” in all of our homes and in our schools!

19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20

Have a great day and eat something healthy and then take a walk with your family!!!!

p.s.  if you have a great quick and healthy meal that you prepare on busy days email it to me and I will put it here on my blog.  email it to:  jerrycaton@bellsouth.net

Another "Heritage From the Lord"

Today is my 6’2”, 200+ lb. baby boy’s 36th birthday and I want to dedicate today’s blog to him.

Nick has brought so much joy to our lives. From the get-go he has made himself known, even kicking and squirming inside of me during my pregnancy to the point I thought sometimes I was going to be turned inside out! When I was in my final days of pregnancy, nurses would pat my belly and say “she’s going to be a 5 lb. little girl” and I would laugh and say “he’s every bit of 8 lbs.” Although I had only gained 17 lbs. he weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz.



Nick was a very active baby and was our “strong willed” one and was the motivation for my purchasing Dr. James Dobson’s “The Strong Willed Child” book. I’ll never forget reading a part that said that in lots of ways that characteristic would serve him well because he would most likely be “his own person”, which he is!



If you read my blog on February 25th about our baby boy who died at birth you might remember me saying that one of the things that has helped me deal with his death over the years was that I realized that if I had not lost my first son, I would never have had Nick because we always knew we would just have two children. And, as I said in that blog, I can’t imagine my life without the fun and adventures that Nick has provided!

So today I want to thank God and Praise His Holy Name for the gift of “Nick.” He continues to be a source of joy and fun to his “old” Mom and Dad and we are so proud of the Christian man, son, husband and father he is. We love him so much!!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.  —Psalm 127:3-5

Remembering and Missing a "Best Friend"

Excerpts from Ruth 1:
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."

16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It is near to my heart because I too had a mother in law that I loved and longed to be near. I wrote about her in the book “Women of Mercer Coutny.” Here is a little excerpt from that book:

   “She taught me so many things in the 39 years that I knew her. She taught me how to work hard because I would be embarrassed that my mother-in-law could out-work me. She encouraged and taught me to get the most from my money by canning and freezing in the summer and sewing and decorating my own house. She is the only person that I ever knew to say they “loved to strip tobacco.” (That was one love of hers that I never developed.)

   She lived her life for others and her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren cherish the memories of this hard working woman of faith. And, I think that we will all be better people because of the influence she was on our lives! Katherine Caton, a “quiet” worker and one of my best friends, was a real role model for me!”

We buried her 4 years ago this month and I still miss her. Sometimes I just want so badly to sit down beside her and listen to her wonderful stories of the “good old days.” I feel so blessed to have been given such a wonderful mother-in-law and can only pray that I learned enough from her to leave good memories for my daughter-in-laws!

Granny Caton could never get her arms full enough of her little ones.
Here she is loving on little Alex and Gracie.